I would be honored to accept this debate and shall begin to post my solid argument in the second round for I would like my opponent to clarify her contentions.

My arguments shall be that people know the risk of the job [offshore oil drilling in this case] they have selected and should have the right to enter in their job field, I would also like to argue that banning this would ruin many peoples livelihoods and that it would increase dependence upon foreign, as well as a few other issues that I shall get into in later rounds.

I would like to thank my opponent for this debate and wish her the best of luck.

My adversary has failed to make an response so I shall begin to clarify my points.

1] The people who go to work on these oil rigs are already aware of the potential risks of explosions, and drowning so it makes no sense to be playing nanny to individuals who already know the risks and weighed them and found it was worth it.

2] When you ban offshore oil drilling you would be increasing unemployment for the people who work on these oil rigs will have to begin searching for new jobs which is already hard as is in this economy.

3] When you ban oil drilling you also increase our dependence upon foreign oil [particularly the oil from the middle east] which adds onto the cost of oil in calculating for shipping costs as well as the many wars that plague the region which can further influence and destabilize costs.

4] There is also the perks that come with many offshore oil drilling jobs such as, 4-5 Star Hotel class accommodations, 14/21 day rotation [meaning that you work for 14 days and have 21 off, or in other terms spend 3/5 of the year on holiday], plus one can also add people getting an chance to travel all around the world [depending upon where the rig is located].

5] Also one must calculate the pay rates of these workers [considering the many different types of workers that work on these rigs] drill deck workers make about $47,000 per year, drillers $56,000, Tool pushers, Drill Leaders and Supervisors are likely to earn around the $75,000 - $100,000 range per year.

All of these seem to put your arguments that offshore drilling should be banned to rest, especially in consideration of how these jobs do not even make the top 15 most dangerous jobs in the US [fishermen were number 1 and 15 was maintenance ground workers] as can be seen by this source http://www.businessinsider.com... alongside this fact it can be included that with every catastrophe comes improved safety an example would be that now workers live on a separate rig then that of the drilling platform and other such amenities.

Now I would like to add that my voter may say that the title states ban oil drilling but if one reads her first argument "Most people had died from oil drilling while working or drowning in freezing water" she is talking about offshore oil drilling [the drowning and freezing water] and if she wishes to clarify all drilling she still has the chance to do so in the next round.

Reasons for voting decision: Pro instigated a potentially interesting debate, but failed to even make a valid point beyond her opening round. Con however made a valid or at least substantial argument [how the ban of oil drilling might lead to rise in dependence on off-shore oil drilling and other economic detriments].